I just have a quick question, and it's not necessarily a trade suggestion, so please don't move it. Also, please don't respond unless you actually take the time to look over, and with an open mind, analyze my comments. Thanks! We all know Chris Webber isn't quite the player he's been in the past, don't confuse my words however, offensively he's still very impressive, and he's without a doubt the heart of the team, but I still feel the need to ask these question because I myself am on fence. Chris Webber, clearly declined from his previous seasons performance's and still struggling with nagging knee injuries is due to make 17.5 Million Dollars this season, to be followed by three more seasons which will earn Webber upwards of 62.1 Million Dollars (Roughly 20.5 Million Per Season). Now Perhaps a healthy, 28 Year Old Chris Webber could be worth his payment plan over this season and the following three, but I myself do not see this as a good investment for the future. The Sacramento Kings Rank 9th in the league in payrolls (Roughly 62 Million), and are scheduled to spend just a little over a million more next season. However, looking foward to the 2006-2007 season, Sacramento looks to be headed towards financial difficulties. That season as Miller, Peja, and Bibby head into later years of their contract, inclining in annual pay, The Kings are due to pay out 52 Million Dollars in salaries. That's already above The NBA's Salary Cap, excluding the posibility of Sacramento aquiring a major contributor via free agency. The 52 Million Dollars is also excluding Doug Christie's, Bobby Jackson's, Matt Barnes's, Greg Ostertag's, and Darius Songaila's contracts. They will all have to be resigned, however there is fine print. Christie and Ostertag will be heading towards the end of their career, staring retirement down which is the likely route. Bobby Jackson is likely to leave for the money and the starting postion somewhere else. Darius and Barnes are young, upcoming superstars who are likely to want their "BIG PAY DAY" upfront, not to mention long term contracts. So, in 2006-2007 Sacramento will likely lose Bobby Jackson, lose Doug Christie, lose Greg Ostertag, and will struggle to keep Songaila and Barnes to stay in Sacramento. This isn't even mentioning the simple fact that Chris Webber, Earning 20.7 Million Dollars That Season, is likely to become less and less of a factor as he grows older and his contributions decline. So a declining Power Foward, No Shooting Guard, No Spark Off The Bench. Yet Sacramento will remain over the salary cap, with Miller, Peja, and Bibby as the only tradable players, thus leaving them unable to improve their team through trades, assuming they wouldn't get rid of the aforementioned players. They'd also be unable to aquire help through free agency. Their draft choices would remain far away from the lottery, leaving aid from that department virtually a non-factor. The team would be in decline, They would be financially hand cuffed, and the franchise would be heading back towards it's previous state. Is loyalty to Chris Webber worth it? Don't get me wrong, I love Webber as a player, always have and always will, but I believe Sacramento have shot themselves in the foot with this long term contract. The only option I see Sacramento having would be a trade while Webber still has value on the open market. This all stems from comments made following Tuesday Night's game against The Knicks... <div class="quote_poster">Quoting THE SACBEE:</div><div class="quote_post">Webber semi-dodged a question about whether he's like to be traded to the Knicks someday, although he did say: "There's no player that's ever touched a basketball that I've ever loved and admired more than Isiah."</div> Given this quote, and knowing That Isiah is ready, willing, and able to make a move this season, why haven't we at least discussed Webber with The Knicks and other teams around the league? The Knicks clearly have the contracts required to make such a transaction, Isiah seems to be on the prowl to make a major shakeup in New York, and Sacramento is head towards a downward spiral in the near future. Is no one else seeing this?
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">knowing That Isiah is ready, willing, and able to make a move this season, why haven't we at least discussed Webber with The Knicks and other teams around the league? </div> Because the kings are playing to win a championship,not make the playoffs at a steady clip forever.Also,please realize that the kings GM is Genius-Mastermind Geoff Petrie.This guys eye for talent and ability to put a team together is unbelievable.With him as GM I really dont think the kings will ever be any worse than decent.You said it King James,Sacramento isnt even top 5 in payroll and theyre LOADED with talent.Why?The answer is Geoff knows how to pick them.Webber's health is just unfortunate.Theres not much chance of trading him and coming out a better team THIS YEAR,as they are trying to win a ring.Its almost never as bad as people make it out to be.Webber's health has no doubt improved and is still improving.Whos to say he cant continue to play his current style of basketball at a high level until his contract is up.Karl Malone played a style of basketball that was watered down in comparison to his old style and it was successful for a long time.I just put alot of faith in Petrie and believe he'll make the best decisions.Hes yet to do a poor job of assembling players.
New York has the contracts but does New York have the players the Kings wants. I heard earlier this season about a trade idea that would send Houston and Kurt Thomas for Webber and Christie. The Kings would get a relatively cheap defensive man who can shoot as well as add another deadly shooter and proven playoff performer. This trade will give the Kings more interior defense which they always seem to lack and enable them to shoot the lights from 1-3 while giving them someone to rely on in the playoffs in case Peja doesnt show up again. No offense to Peja. However Houston is making nearly as much money as Chris Webber so you'll be paying alot of money anyway. So it doesnt really help Sacramento's fiscal situation. And he has a question mark on his health as well. On the other hand Houston's contract ends a year sooner than Webber's. As an added bonus you can Peja happy by sending Webber away and Peja is clearly the future. Webber's health will not get better. Houston, Webber, Penny, Kittles and Grant Hill have all had the same kind of surgery. Kittles is the only one who returned to form in a timely manner to date and he took a long time off to rehab. Karl Malone stayed in great shape and never had a serious injury like Webber(I could be wrong). I know alot Kings fans wont like that trade idea but it sounds like a pretty solid deal for the Kings. Not sure if I like it for the Knicks though. But knowing Isiah Thomas he would pull the trigger on this trade in a second. Thats the best idea I could come up with. Is there anyone else on the Knicks that the Kings want?
Do you watch Kings games often H20?Theres no doubt Webber's health has improved since last years playoffs,and from the beginning of this season until now his health has improved.He still fills up his usual stat line pretty nicely.Karl Malone never being injured has nothing to do with him changing his style of play to better suit his age and physical capabilities.This is what Webber has done and so far hes had success with it.
The only reason Sacramento isn't amongst the top five in payroll is because there are other teams who have invested their money unwisely, or are on the verge of rebuilding so they've aquired BIG expiring contracts. Like New York for instance, they have several injury prone players who have big money contracts, Allan Houston and Penny Hardaway for example. The previous GM was also terrible with talent evaluating, and over paid players left and right. Take Portland, the number 3 highest payroll, they've simply headed towards a rebuilding process. In doing so they've aquired several big money contracts that have a year or two left, thus aiding them in their cause in rebooting their franchise. Next season their 3 highest paid players are removed from their salary, don't expect them to even scrape the top 10 in payrolls next year. Just because we're not amongst the top ten in franchise salaries doesn't make our spending justified. We are no longer a deep team, our bench consists of unproven late-first and second round draft selections, and a human tree trunk named Ostertag. We have players prone to injury, Webber and Bobby Jackson, and we have a starting shooting guard who also shows signs of decline as he heads towards the back-end of his career. Webber too has been in decline, no doubt he's performed better since last season and his health has shown slight signs of improvement, but he isn't worth an average of 20 million a season for the next three years. Who's to say he'll even last that long? He's become injury prone and can't be expected to play an entire 82 game season. He's become a liability on defense, and he's often times forced to sit out games to rest his knees. He's not amongst the league's elite power fowards any longer, and his statistics have also dropped of from their previous standards. He's posting his second lowest FG percentage of his career, his second lowest Rebounding average, his second lowest minutes per game, and his third lowest in scoring average. His defense has fallen off, his ability to take over games has suffered, and he's simply not worth his paycheck any longer, end of story. Yes, Perhaps Sacramento is loaded with STARTING talent, but we have NO DEPTH! We're likely to lose Bobby Jackson, Greg Ostertag, and Doug Christie in two seasons and have no cap space to replace them. Who knows what condition our 20 million dollar man Chris Webber will be in or if his contributions will even land him a starting role on an NBA team. The team you currently see isn't likely to improve, two of their starters our growing older, and our superstar off the bench has shown signs of injury too often and isn't likely to stick around anyhow. So we're left with Miller, Bibby, and Peja. The same Peja who has demanded a trade in the past, and isn't likely to resign when his time in Sacramento runs out. No cap space, no high draft selections, no superstar potential rookies. We're headed towards a spiral if we don't address our problems, I'm simply sick of turning my head as though I'm not realizing what's taking place right infront of my eyes. Our chances of taking the west have faltered, and will continue to do so unless something dramatic takes place. We can't cross our fingers and hope Webber, Christie, and Jackson wake up 100% one morning, and hope our rookies develop into solid role players. It's simply far fetched, and improvement on this team won't take place on it's own...
Sac town's chances will immediately disappear if you'll take out Webber... So I don't thnk he should leave/be traded or watever...It's like their last shot at the ring as well as CWebb's,(perhaps)..
At this Point Webber's not the same player as he use to be,but he still gets the Job done.I Wouldn't trade Webber at this point of the season.I Would evaulate Webber at the end of this season,to see how he did throughout the year.It also depends on if he gets injured,and if we want to keep paying Webber money on his contract.in my opinon it will all depend on how sucessful he does this season,and if we think we want some younger talent that can help the Kings in the future,than yeah i would go for it.but lets wait till the end of the year before we deal or not deal with Webber.
